CHAPTER 40: CH:40 FULL STATS, EMPTY WALLET

As the afternoon sun dipped lower, casting warm orange rays across the training yard, the clangs of steel finally came to a halt.

The knights packed up, the squires stretched their sore backs, and Sarios—drenched in sweat—slumped down onto a side bench, wiping his brow.

Dila, dressed as usual in her royal-esque gown and straw hat, strolled over with a casual sway. While she has had a round two juice cup in hand, she stopped in front of him.

"Hey, hero," she said plainly.

Sarios looked up, catching his breath. "You can call me Sarios, actually. No need for the ’hero’ thing—at least."

Dila blinked, deadpan. "...Yeah, okay."

Then she sat beside him, crossing her legs in a very un-princess-like fashion. "Sarios, can I ask something weird?"

"Sure," he said, tilting his head.

"I wanna know my real full stats."

Sarios paused, blinking. "Huh? Stats?"

"You know," she twirled a finger dramatically in the air. "Like in games. HP, MP, INT, STR, Luck points, and how broken my sass stat is."

Sarios laughed, a bit confused but rolling with it. "What game, Aren’t you already pretty strong? I mean, as a support mage—you’re like a buffer, will... let see your somehow an alchemist, and a summoner too? That’s like... three job classes in one."

He gave her a big, honest grin.

Dila stared at him for a second... then burst out laughing.

"Your face is ridiculous, you know that?" she snorted.

"Wha—really?" Sarios blinked, scratching his cheek with his finger, suddenly self-conscious. "Am I that bad?"

Dila gave him a dramatic thumbs-up. "Yeah. You look like someone cast ’Confusion’ on you mid-sentence."

Sarios sighed, chuckling. "Remind me again why I’m always the one watching over you?"

Dila smirked. "Because you lost a bet with fate?"

Sarios looked at her for a moment, and his usual grin softened. "Maybe... but honestly, I just feel like I should protect you."

She blinked at him, surprised. "You saying that like I’m a lost cat."

"More like a stray dragon in disguise," he chuckled.

And in the distance, Nari giggled softly in Dila’s mind.

☆ Sass stat confirmed: MAXED OUT ☆

Dila leaned back against the bench, eyes narrowed.

("Nari, seriously... can you pull up my full stats? I wanna see the numbers. All of them.")

☆ I wish I could, master... but I can only detect your basic attributes like level, skill stats, mana, health bars, age, name,class type, gender, and for the last one is race, Now. If you want more of your stats, you’ll need to go to the Guild Bar and get officially appraised and so we can look at your Class Ranking too. ☆

("The Guild Bar? Seriously? Ugh. That sounds like effort.")

☆ Then live forever not knowing whether your Luck stat is trash or god-tier. Your choice. ☆

Dila sighed dramatically. "God, I hate quest lines."

Sarios blinked. "What?"

"Nothing," she waved him off with her juice cup, taking a sip like a tired salarywoman.

Sarios just shook his head. Trying to get used to it by now.

As the warm afternoon light began to dim, casting long shadows across the yard, a soft breeze rustled through the trees. Stella, standing a bit off to the side with her hands on her hips, looked toward the sunset and stretched her arms wide.

"Welp, guys! I’m heading back to the temple now!" she called out, her voice echoing slightly across the open space.

Sarios, still seated and catching his breath, gave her a calm nod. "Be safe, Priestess."

Dila, still lounging like a lazy cat with her juice cup halfway empty, perked up and waved with one arm. "Okaayyy~!" she called back, her voice slightly cracking like she hadn’t used full volume in centuries.

Stella giggled from a distance. "And maybe try not to break your bones swinging sticks again, Dila!"

"I make no promises!" Dila shouted, then added under her breath, "...but I will sue gravity if it betrays me again."

Sarios glanced at her with a sigh. "You’re really something, you know that?"

"Of course," she replied, adjusting her hat smugly.

And with that, the sun slipped a little further beneath the horizon, painting the sky in warm pinks and orange, while Dila and Sarios sat quietly—one exhausted, the other still casually plotting her next act of chaos.

In the distance, the temple bells chimed.

And somewhere... Nari softly whispered in her mind:

☆ End-of-day achievement unlocked: Survived sword training with minimal dignity lost. ☆

As the final chime of the temple bell faded into the breeze, Dila sipped the last bit of her juice and leaned her head back against the bench. A tired sigh escaped her lips.

("Are you trying to make fun of me?") she grumbled in her mind, eyes narrowed.

☆ Who, me? Never, master ☆ Nari replied sweetly, though the giggle at the end gave her away. ☆ You flopping like a pancake during sword training was purely... educational. ☆

Dila squinted at nothing in particular, then muttered under her breath, "I knew you were laughing."

Sarios blinked, unsure whether she was talking to him or the invisible fairy of sass floating in her brain.

"Wait What was that?" he asked, glancing sideways at her.

"Nothing," Dila replied quickly, turning away and muttering again, "...traitor support system."

☆ I heard that ☆

She pouted, cheeks puffed slightly. Then without warning, she slapped her palms on her knees and stood up with a huff. "Alright! I’m going to that Guild bar"

Sarios looked startled. "Wait, what now?"

"I’m getting my stats appraised," she declared, adjusting her hat like it was a crown of purpose. "I demand to know just how broken I am."

☆ Emotionally? Or magically? ☆

("Both!")

Sarios just stared. "You’re... aware that the Guild Bar isn’t actually a bar, right?"

"...Wait, what? ....No?"

And then Sarios said, "It’s not really a..."

He tugged awkwardly at the collar of his armor, glancing sideways like he was about to reveal a dark secret.

"You know, it’s not a normal Guild Bar. They’re, uh..." He looked away, eyes narrowing. "...monetizing, greedy bastards."

For a second, there was silence.

And then—

"Pwaaah—HAHAHAHAHA!"

Dila burst out laughing. "You actually said it! Greedy. Bastards." she repeated between wheezes.

Even Sarios couldn’t help himself.

He tried—oh, he tried—to hold it in, biting his lip, but after a second, a laugh slipped out. Then another. And soon he was snickering so hard he had to cover his mouth with his glove.

"Don’t laugh!" he chuckled through gritted teeth. "They’ll blacklist me if they find out I said that."

"But it’s true!" Dila pointed dramatically. "Greedy. Bastards!"

☆ Language, master... ☆ Nari chimed in, though even she sounded like she was giggling.

And than Dila said in her mind " Huh? Language, didn’t even stop me when i said shit!! " Dila is laughing uncontrollable in her mind as if she is about to break.

"Oh shut up, you were laughing too," Dila muttered under her breath.

☆Yeah~ yeah~ master, i didn’t notice lastime because where in the fights.☆

Sarios leaned back against the bench, still chuckling, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "Seriously though. They’ll charge you for every stat they scan. One time I sneezed and they charged me for an ’Agility check.’"

"Pffffft! WHAT?!" Dila burst again.

☆ I hope they don’t charge for sarcasm detection. You’ll be bankrupt, ☆ Nari added sweetly.

And as the sun dipped below the horizon and laughter echoed around the training grounds, even the guards nearby exchanged puzzled glances, wondering if these two had finally lost it.

Dila fell quiet for a moment, her expression flattening as she stared at the sky like it had just insulted her non existing wallet.

"Haaa..." she sighed. "Where do I even get money to pay for a full stat appraisal? That’s like throwing gold at a fortune teller who tells you you’re ugly."

Sarios scratched his head. "Well... how about we do a quest?"

He froze immediately, eyes widening.

"I should not have said that."

Dila slowly turned to him with a grin creeping across her face like a loading screen of doom.

"Oho~ a quest, you say?" Her smile darkened as she clapped her hands together slowly, each clap echoing like a countdown to chaos.

Sarios’s face went pale.

"N-no! This is a bad idea! BAD IDEA!" he flailed his hands like he was trying to swat away regret. "Why did I say anything?!"

Dila leaned in with a smirk. "Of course it’s a bad idea... so tomorrow, you better buckle up, Hero."

Sarios sank lower into the bench. "Can I fake a cold? A leg injury? Sudden knightly amnesia?"

☆ No escape, ☆ Nari chimed in cheerfully.

And Dila just stared with a villainous glint in her eye.

Tomorrow... was about to be legendary. Or at least... a legendary disaster. "Muah hahahahaha".